Why are Willam and Jaremi Carey – formerly Phi Phi O’Hara – fighting again? Here’s how the decade-old Drag Race beef restarted
Willam and Jaremi Carey – formerly Phi Phi O’Hara – are embroiled in a war of words once again. (Getty)
Willam and Jaremi Carey – formerly Phi Phi O'Hara – are embroiled in a war of words once again. (Getty)
Willam and Jaremi Carey – formerly Phi Phi O’Hara – are having words with each other once again, and let’s just say their tones are very pointed right now.
The RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni, who became sworn season enemies during season four of the reality contest way back in 2012, are back at each other’s throats on X, formerly Twitter, after Willam revealed that she “planned to bop” Jaremi during season four, prior to Willam’s infamous disqualification.
Though there have been many, many beefs throughout Drag Race history, most recently Ginger Minj vs The World, Willam vs Jaremi Carey is arguably the most enduring.
When did this all start?
Now, to explain all the history of one of the fiercest rivalries of reality TV history would cost the entire word count of this article. So in brief: Willam and Jaremi, then Phi Phi O’Hara, appeared on Drag Race season four together, and famously did not get on.
Their arguments in companion show Untucked are the stuff of legend – “This is a show for talented people, not people who know how to buy f**king shoes,” as Phi Phi once lambasted Willam – and when the Drag Race fandom yearns for the show to return to “classic Drag Race“, this is the era they’re talking about. Phi Phi despised Willam’s attitude, and blasted her self-confessed rule-breaking during filming.
This all happened 14 years ago now, with Phi Phi O’Hara since dropping her drag name and leaving the Drag Race world behind. So it’s fair to assume it’s long been buried. Right?
How did the Willam and Jaremi drama reignite?
The reignited drama came about as Willam tried to put another, separate drama to bed, her very public 2025 spat with All Stars 10 contestant, Mistress Isabelle Brooks. Appearing together at a viewing party for season 18’s premiere episode at the weekend, Willam and Mistress quashed their feud, with Willam explaining that she “said something which [she] probably shouldn’t have said” to Mistress.
“Which was, if I was on a reality show with her, I would’ve bopped her And I can understand how that sounds like a violent threat to somebody,” Willam explained.
“But when I was on a reality show, I planned to bop a girl to get sent home, Phi Phi, if they didn’t send me home. I was literally repeating the same thing that I’ve said for a decade,” she added, referencing her age-old drama with Jaremi.
Except Willam had, it seems, never told Jaremi about her plan to “bop” her back on season four.
Bop me!? That's news to me Lol
— Jaremi (@JustJaremi) January 3, 2026
Fun fact YEARS ago, before therapy and leaving an unhealthy place mentally and physically…..I went back home to visit after RPDR and this Sharon fan was at my best friends house talking shit, myself and my friends told him, yo chill, Jaremi is… https://t.co/RjQxrgBqQU
“Bop me!? That’s news to me Lol,” Jaremi wrote on X, before sharing a story about how he attacked a fan of season four winner Sharon Needles, after the fan threw water at him. “Im glad for Willam’s sake their plan didnt go through,” he added.
“I dont think anyone should really want to plan to ‘bop’ anyone, especially someone who had to fight from abuse from their Dad growing up, their abusive exes and surviving when they lived on the streets for a bit. I fought to survive sometimes, it wasnt the same and the outcomes were often graphic with ppl in hospitals,” Jaremi continued. He added that he’s a changed person now – sober, through therapy, and able to let Willam’s word “just run off my back and laugh”.
How did Willam respond?
Not one to let a social media scuffle pass her by, Willam responded to Carey directly, writing that if she had “bopped” Phi Phi back in 2012, it “woulda been a KO”, insinuating that Drag Race disqualified her “right on time”. She also took a moment to remind Jaremi that she won a singing challenge on the season, while Jaremi was a “flop” during the same challenge.
“Idk why you are living in the past Willam,” Carey retorted, “but I find it funny you are acting big here now with these years old late reads about my time on RPDR…… in 2012 lmfaooo.” The drag queen-turned-streamer then tried to end the war of words, stating that while Willam is “in a place of needing validation”, he wishes her the “best of luck in life”.
“You were so cruel to me, jiggly [Caliente] and others during our time together on & off the show,” Willam replied, adding that she is the same fighter Jaremi professes to be. She then told the creator to keep her luck, and to “block me b**ch”.
Furious that Willam would bring Jaremi’s best friend Jiggly Caliente into the drama, considering the Drag Race Philippines host passed away in April 2025, Jaremi issued one more response.
“What year are we in……lol Am I being pranked? You actually need to talk to someone and maybe put the podcast mic down. You want to pretend you are some victim now years later when people see your true colors, the colors I saw when I first met you and was brave enough to call you on,” he wrote.
He added that he had talked “nothing but highly” of Willam and her talents since appearing on the show, adding that he assumed the pair were “cool”.
What year are we in……lol Am I being pranked? You actually need to talk to someone and maybe put the podcast mic down
— Jaremi (@JustJaremi) January 7, 2026
You want to pretend you are some victim now years later when people see your true colors, the colors I saw when I first met you and was brave enough to call… https://t.co/dNDkjHeJrZ
“Jiggly was my best friend, so how dare you try to bring her name into this, she was a fan of yours, not your best friend,” he continued. “Years, and I mean YEARS now, I still remain on your mind and a talking point in your content as you try and hold onto the little bit of RPDR you can. While I moved on, married and living a happy gay nerdy life.”
He rounded off: “I don’t need to block anyone, if you feel your peace is disturbed the button is there for you to use as well. My peace will no longer be disturbed by your inability to grow up.”
Is that the end of the Willam vs Jaremi Carey fight?
Considering, at the time of writing, Jaremi’s last post was mere hours ago, it seems likely that there will be a few more back and forths to come. Plus, this is a fight reheated from 14 years ago; whether it will ever truly end remains to be seen.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
